“And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.” (Acts 2:5-11)

This may seem like a strange approach to this portion of scripture, but I have a question for you.

What does preaching in the Spirit look and sound like?

The Apostle Paul described his preaching in the following way:

“And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:” (1 Corinthians 2:4)

What can we learn from these two passages about what it means to demonstrate that a minister is filled with the Holy Ghost in His preaching?

Let’s begin with the Apostles, most of whom were Galilean. The Galileans had an infamous reputation for their dialect and accent that set them apart from the other Aramaic speakers in Judea. The night of Jesus’ trial, Peter’s speech was so distinctive that everyone knew he was Galilean and was one of Jesus’ disciples (Matthew 26:73). Their reputation was that they were ignorant and unlearned men. Most of that was directed at their accents and speech because they were so difficult to understand.

On the day of Pentecost, God blessed Peter, the other Apostles, and a great number of believers with the ability to speak in foreign languages. That is what the Bible means by speaking in tongues. It is not gibberish, noises, or any other unintelligible sound. Tongues means languages. On that marvelous day, these Galileans were blessed to be able to speak their own language and the languages of many other lands in a clear and distinct way so that others could understand the gospel of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. What a wondrous blessing!

Before I go any further, I want to clearly state that I believe there are many different styles of preaching. There are those that are more expressive and some that are less so. Some preach with a large variety in volume to make their point. Others preach in calm and deep tones. All of these are effective. Also, some people prefer one style over the other, or they learn better with one particular style. I am not criticizing any style, nor am I promoting one style of preaching over another. I just think there is a fundamental lesson we can learn from this wonderful account of the day of Pentecost — The people heard and they UNDERSTOOD the preaching of the wonderful blessings of God!

So, not only were they speaking in foreign languages, they were speaking in a way that people could understand. It does not say whether they were loud or soft, but it is evident that their delivery was UNDERSTANDABLE! There was no rambling. There were no noises of breathing in or grunting noises when they breathed. There was nothing overtly dramatic to draw attention to the message. They simply spoke truths in an intelligible way. There was nothing to distract from the beauty of the gospel. Being filled with the Holy Ghost made these men understandable.

Consider what the Apostle Paul says is the requirement for the speaking ability of a preacher (bishop):

“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;” (1 Timothy 3:2)

Of all of the requirements for the office of preacher that are listed, being “apt to teach” is the only requirement that involves the man’s speaking ability.

My fellow yoke-brethren in the ministry of the word, let us strive to fulfill our calling in the clearest delivery and spirit of teaching that we can. 

Preaching is teaching and teaching is preaching.